Mumbai to host Snow Soccer League

More than 32 teams will participate in India's first five-day Snow Soccer League (SSL) at the Phoenix Marketcity in the city's Kurla area starting Monday afternoon, an organiser said.

The event coincides with the Special Olympics World Winter Games being held in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

"I feel the time is apt to provide snow sports like ice-skating and snow-boarding to our children and adults. The Snow Soccer League in partnership with the Special Olympics is the first initiative in this direction," said Rajendra Jain, chairman of Chiliad Procons, organisers of the event.

The event coincides with the Special Olympics World Winter Games being held in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Reuters

The football matches will be played in five categories -- inter-school, inter-college, inter-corporate, inter-city and international -- at an indoor venue, Freezing Rains, in bone-chilling temperatures hovering around -10 degrees Celsius.

"All proceeds from the event will go to the Special Olympics and directly benefit people with intellectual disabilities," said Shail Kapri, fund-raising manager for Special Olympics which has partnered with the SSL to host the event.

With a capacity to accommodate 300 people, the visitors are offered snow jackets, gloves, boots, caps and other accessories for protection against the cold.

On Monday, New Era, Don Bosco, Jamnabai Narsee, Podar International and Ecole Mondiale schools will participate in inter-school matches, while Tuesday will see colleges like St. Xavier's, Jai Hind, NMIMS, Narsee Monjee, St. Andrews and Thakur competing for the trophy.

Companies like Indiabulls, Deloitte, Oracle, Direct, Datamatics and Ingersoll Rand will sweat it out in the chilling cold for the corporate trophy Wednesday.

On Thursday, professional teams from cities like London, Liverpool, Manchester, Munich, Barcelona, Madrid, Los Angeles and Milan will vie for the inter-city trophy.

India, Germany, US, South Africa, South Korea and England will take part in the international matches Friday, the final day of the event.